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School executives will ensure that the school has processes and systems in place for budgeting, staffing, problem-solving, communicating expectations, and scheduling that result in organizing the work routines in the building. The school executive must be responsible for the monitoring of the school budget and the inclusion of all teachers in the budget decision so as to meet the 21st century needs of every classroom. Effectively and efficiently managing the complexity of every day life is critical for staff to be able to focus its energy on improvement.
5a. School Resources and Budget: The school executive establishes budget processes and systems which are focused on, and result in, improved student achievement.
Internship Activities
Coursework, Trainings, and Readings
Selected Artifacts
5b. Conflict Management and Resolution: The school executive effectively and efficiently manages the complexity of human interactions so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Internship Activities
Coursework, Trainings, and Readings
Selected Artifacts
Facilitated Leadership
Clara Hearne Early Childhood Center serves the prekindergarten children of Roanoke Rapids. Our center has 10 teachers and serves approximately 150 students. Head Start is housed at our center but is a separate entity. The Head Start program offers many wonderful services to an additional 34 students. These students are domiciled in Roanoke Rapids but our district does not employ the Head Start employees. To a casual observer, the glaring disparity between the programs is race. Our classes are predominately white whereas the Head Start is predominately black. Our definition of learning is very different. My vision is for our preschool classes to blend with the Head Start classes.
The process of blending is quite complicated. One person alone cannot do this task. For this to be a success, I needed to seek maximum appropriate involvement from the staff. Our school improvement team has taken on this challenge. A survey was sent to all the staff at our school and the results were discussed. Two teachers volunteered to partner with me to attend meetings between Roanoke Rapids and Head Start. They will represent the teachers and bring back information to the entire staff.
Looking back at this process, I feel like I’m just shooting in the dark. I should have worked harder to communicate a vision. It was important to spend some time developing a pathway to this action first. I did not do that because time is at such a premium these days. To actually have a plan sounds so simple but time is so hard to find.
Another area of facilitative leadership that I have practiced is “Facilitate Agreement”. The ladies at our school disagree on just about everything. The most recent heated topic was the dreaded laminating machine. The staff was divided on what exactly could be laminated. I enlisted the talents of my trusty fellow, Doug, to help facilitate this meeting. At a previous staff meeting, I thought everyone wanted agreement on a list of items “not” to laminate. Before our facilitated meeting, Doug and I agreed on a desired outcome: a list of items not to laminate. My job was to open and clearly I was nervous. During the brainstorming, it became very clear that my desired outcome was not the groups desired outcome. I should have asked for agreement on the topic first. So, we stopped brainstorming and changed the desired outcome to “a procedure for using the laminating machine”. Everyone agreed to that desired outcome. The brainstorming was on target and very productive. Doug then narrowed and closed. We had agreement and everyone left happy.
As I reflect on that experience, I would do several things differently. Clearly, I need to make sure there is agreement on the desired outcome. Everyone came to the meeting with a different agenda. I brought to the meeting a preconceived idea and that was wrong. I did not bring a written agenda. I’m not sure if I really needed one or not. At the minimum, I should have stated very clearly, “this is the desired outcome” and that I did not do! Before we began, ground rules were established. I asked if we could include “spirit of generosity” to the ground rules. In our meetings with NELA, I see such benefit to that idea. Everyone followed the ground rules. I let everyone know that if we could not come to agreement, that I would make the final decision. The biggest celebration was the several emails I received the next day commenting on the positive decision-making process.
The last facilitated leadership skill I practiced very specifically was celebrating an accomplishment. It is a shame I’ve only done that once which embarrasses me. It happened quite by accident. I was in the lounge working on a report with the More @ 4 coordinator, Brenna. A teacher assistant came in to use the “sick” bathroom for children. A child had an extreme bloody nose. We asked if the assistant needed any help. She absolutely refused any help. I was very disturbed because this was a massive bloody nose. I had not seen so much blood! Brenna jumped in and helped. It clearly was a two-person job. After 30 minutes, the bleeding stopped. The assistant said she was thankful for the help but I could sense her pride had been hurt. At our staff meeting that afternoon, I felt I needed to praise this teacher assistant. She handled a stressful situation with such grace and I thanked her for that. The public acknowledgment was intended to celebrate her hard work. In hindsight, I’m not sure if a praising her in a public forum was comfortable for her. She might have preferred a quiet note. It is important to know those with whom you work.
To conclude, I have used some skills that I learned in Facilitated Leadership. Change is difficult. My mind convinces me daily that it is easier to just do what is comfortable. Practicing these skills will make using them easier. Great change will follow.
Crucial Conversations
When I accepted the position of Exceptional Children’s Director, I asked to not be the director of the preschool. The employees at the preschool have been my peers for the past 4 years. After two months as EC director, I was told I would be the Preschool Director. My heart sank. It is a daily struggle working with my peers as the Director. In January, I was told I had to evaluate all the teacher assistants. So totally unprepared for the task, my heart sank. Most evaluations were easy ones but there were a few that were very difficult. If I had to give myself a grade, I would have received an “F”.
As I reflect on my personal strengths and weaknesses, one of my strengths is communication. People have always told me they never doubt where they stand with me. I say what I mean and mean what I say. But when I attended crucial conversations training, I discovered I am guilty of the sucker’s choice. I have the tendency to be honest but not kind. Or, I can be kind but not honest. Learning to choose “and”, not “or”, was an eye opener. Today, I still feel like communication is one of my strengths but now I have skills to communicate more effectively.
Back to the teacher assistant evaluations! One assistant disagreed with hers. She did not want to talk about it for a week or so. Pressure built and she called me on the phone to vent. We talked for 45 minutes but got nowhere. I needed her to sign her evaluation but she refused. That was Thursday before the crucial conversation training. The next Monday afternoon, I sat down face to face with this assistant and here is what happened.
First, my plan was to start with heart. I knew I needed to stay focused on the problem at hand. She wanted to blame others for her weaknesses. She felt like she could trust no one. I wanted her to feel safe and know that I wanted to help her be better. Second, my goal was to learn what her issues were, to find the truth while strengthening our relationship. I reminded myself I could be honest AND kind at the same time. It was very easy to share the facts, not my story. That’s what I had done wrong the last time we talked. This time, I kept taking our conversation back to the facts. Then, I told her how everything looked from my perspective. She agreed. I asked questions and mirrored what she said. Paraphrasing was difficult. Every time I paraphrased, she told me that what not what she was saying. I’m still not sure what she was trying to say, so I stopped paraphrasing. I really spent a lot of time contrasting to build safety. She went to silence many times and I tried to draw her out. Her final reply to me was “Never mind”. I let it go. After one hour, she signed her evaluation. I still don’t know if she truly is okay. We did get to agreement on ways she could improve her performance.
The most enlightening experience happened through all of this. I discovered that what this assistant really wanted was to feel appreciated and loved. Last year, her teacher sent her cards every month. She has not gotten one this whole year. This assistant shows her love and appreciation through cards and letters. She just wants to be appreciated. Her teacher and I discussed this and we feel like that is the root of all the problems. Together, this teacher and I plan to frequently celebrate this TA’s work and commitment.
5c. Systematic Communication: The school executive designs and utilizes various forms of formal and informal communication so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Internship Activities
Coursework, Trainings, and Readings
Selected Artifacts
5d. School Expectations for Students and Staff: The school executive develops and enforces expectations, structures, rules, and procedures for students and staff.
Internship Activities
Coursework, Trainings, and Readings
Self Assessment 2012
Standard 5: Managerial Leadership
The school leader as a manager is a critical component of the school executive’s job. This standard addresses budgeting and managing the day-to-day processes of the school. The managerial leader must solve problems in a fair and democratic way, being sensitive to the needs of others. Communicating with staff in a quick and efficient manner will ensure that staff feels valued. Developing rules and having clear expectations of staff and students prevent confusion. The manager leader must be results- oriented, taking prompt action when needed. Organization, order, and time management are key aspects of this standard.
When I was growing up, my parents instilled in me the value of rules. Intrinsically, I hold true to the belief that rules are to be followed and that order prevents chaos. Personally, at home, we have a budget and believe that maintaining a budget is standard operating procedure. Effectively managing time is a skill I have consistently worked on throughout the past 11 years. Working as a SLP in the schools, every day was different. Maintaining a schedule was a daily priority. Student paperwork needed to be completed by certain dates. I have learned the value of prior planning to maintain an organized environment.
While I keep an organized schedule and adhere to timelines, there are two areas of managerial leadership that I consider my weaknesses. First, I need to learn to disseminate information in an organized manner. I need to design a way to communicate with staff consistently. Currently, I do not have a system in place to distribute information to staff at the preschool. Second, I do not have any experience developing either a program budget or a school budget. Spending money that is not my own personal money and doing so in an effective manner requires planning.
During this next year, my goal is to increase my confidence as an effective managerial leader. My goals are as follows: